# A "mainstream" question



## Ether's Bane (Aug 1, 2009)

I've noticed that a lot of you take having your music called "mainstream" as an insult. So, if the non-mainstream music that you like became mainstream, would you abandon those bands?


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## Music Dragon (Aug 1, 2009)

That would be a pretty retarded thing to do.


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## Tarvos (Aug 1, 2009)

what is "mainstream"

what the fuck you even talking about? music should be good who cares if anyone else likes 'em

snow patrol is one of my favourite bands and they are mainstream as fuck


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## Zuu (Aug 1, 2009)

I think when people say "mainstream" in a disdainful way they're referring to the bands that are mainstream but don't deserve to be. Like Nickelback.

Just sayin'.


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## Fredie (Aug 1, 2009)

Dezzuu said:


> I think when people say "mainstream" in a disdainful way they're referring to the bands that are mainstream but don't deserve to be. Like Nickelback.
> 
> Just sayin'.


Take that back. Nickelback are an awesome band.


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## foreign contaminant (Aug 1, 2009)

well, thanks to guitar hero, bands i love like sonic youth and dinosaur jr. have gotten "mainstream" exposure. and some musicians i love, like lou reed and david bowie, are (or were) mainstream. this hasn't stopped me from loving them and it's not about to.


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## Fireworks (Aug 1, 2009)

I could honestly care less if the music I like is well-known or not, similarly how I don't care about others' negative opinion about the music I like


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## Noctowl (Aug 1, 2009)

Tbh, I don't really care as long as I like the songs I am listening to.


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## Zuu (Aug 1, 2009)

Fredie said:


> Take that back. Nickelback are an awesome band.


No comment.

Alternatively, THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE


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## Butterfree (Aug 1, 2009)

It is kind of dumb to let how much other people like X influence how much you like X, and it is equally so in either direction. Liking something just because everybody else likes it is dumb. Disliking something just because everybody else likes it is dumb. Now, if you don't like something and it is insanely popular anyway, it can annoy you somewhat more than otherwise, but only if you disliked it, or at least didn't care for it, in the first place.

What a lot of people tend to forget is that something being "mainstream" means nothing more and nothing less than that it appeals to a lot of people. Things don't become popular completely out of the blue because everybody else is a sheep, and people who like what's mainstream generally genuinely like it, not just because everybody else does.


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## opaltiger (Aug 1, 2009)

foreign contaminant said:


> well, thanks to guitar hero, bands i love like sonic youth and dinosaur jr. have gotten "mainstream" exposure. and some musicians i love, like lou reed and david bowie, are (or were) mainstream. this hasn't stopped me from loving them and it's not about to.


It is a known fact that mainstream is only bad if it was in the nineties or later. Mainstream sixties, seventies, and eighties bands are fine.


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## Lady Grimdour (Aug 1, 2009)

I really couldn't care less. Hell, if a band I liked became mainstream, FUCKYEAH. More fans, more exposure, more profit for the band.


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## Ryan the Terrible (Aug 1, 2009)

opaltiger said:


> It is a known fact that mainstream is only bad if it was in the nineties or later. Mainstream sixties, seventies, and eighties bands are fine.


So you're saying it's a _fact_ that new mainstream bands are bad and old mainstream bands are good? 

By personal preference, I genuinely like new mainstream, and new music in general, a lot better than old music.

I don't think that how mainstream a band or artist is should determine anything about them. I like some bands that pretty much everyone knows of, (Coldplay, Linkin Park, Yellowcard,) and some bands that hardly anyone I know in real life knows about. (The Rasmus, Lacuna Coil, Does It Offend You, Yeah?) And say one day The Rasmus comes out with a single so huge, it becomes a megahit even in America, and from then on, all the major radio stations are fighting to get the first play for all the new Rasmus singles. I would just like the fact that more people have heard of them, and love the band just as much as I did before.


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## opaltiger (Aug 1, 2009)

> So you're saying it's a fact that new mainstream bands are bad and old mainstream bands are good?


Absolutely.


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## Jetx (Aug 1, 2009)

Nobody would _say_ they'd stop listening to their favourite bands, but some people would.

I wouldn't, but still, I'd rather that my favourite bands don't all become "mainstream". Because not everyone is meant to appreciate this stuff. People would force themselves into it because it gives them a good image, not because they genuinely appreciate it, and it would ruin the music. It would sound the same, but with live gigs and whatnot, the atmosphere would be different. Major labels would muscle in on bands and try to alter what they're about, what they do. And then there are those people that try desperately to avoid all mainstream bands, to be against all the trends, and they're just as bad. Maybe worse.

Also, I barely know anybody that doesn't know the Rasmus and Lacuna Coil. They _have_ had big hits already. Just sayin'.


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## Dinru (Aug 1, 2009)

opaltiger said:


> It is a known fact that mainstream is only bad if it was in the nineties or later. Mainstream sixties, seventies, and eighties bands are fine.


You're mixing up "fact" and "opinion". Some of us happen to like mainstream nineties music and even modern mainstream, thank you very much.

And like pretty much everyone else said already, not liking something just because a lot of people like it is as stupid is liking something because very few people like it.


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## opaltiger (Aug 1, 2009)

> You're mixing up "fact" and "opinion". Some of us happen to like mainstream nineties music and even modern mainstream, thank you very much.


What? Opinion in music? Everyone knows that music is defined my hard boundaries with no room for improvisation; if you like mainstream music after the eighties, you clearly don't deserve to listen to any music at all. This is pure fact.


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## Aobaru (Aug 1, 2009)

I like Coldplay, David Bowie, etc. because, in _my_ opinion, they make good music. I _enjoy_ listening to them. It has absolutely nothing to do with their popularity, either now or in the past.

And when you think about it, every band is popular to a degree.


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## Dinru (Aug 1, 2009)

opaltiger said:


> What? Opinion in music? Everyone knows that music is defined my hard boundaries with no room for improvisation; if you like mainstream music after the eighties, you clearly don't deserve to listen to any music at all. This is pure fact.


...

I only just realized you've been being sarcastic...

Sorry ^^;


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## Flora (Aug 1, 2009)

Oh _heck_ no.  Two of my favorite bands aren't mainstream (heck, if anybody knows that the band Draft Week even exists, that is amazing) , and I'd love it if they were mainstream, cause they're that good.


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## ultraviolet (Aug 2, 2009)

I always figured 'mainstream' was just an insult used by people who are trying to be trendy or special snowflakes by only liking lesser-known bands with small followings. And then for some reason they get annoyed when suddenly everyone likes their band and they aren't special any more. Said people don't really care about the band or their music, only how unique they think they are. 

Most of the bands/musicians I like are mainstream anyway (or at least mainstream in Australia). I mean one of my favourite bands is Coldplay. I like a couple of local/Australian bands that likely nobody here would have ever heard of (bluejuice, The Cat Empire, The Grates) but I'd be glad if they became more mainstream because they'd get more money for their music and their music would be easier to find/buy.


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## Ryan the Terrible (Aug 2, 2009)

Jetx said:


> Also, I barely know anybody that doesn't know the Rasmus and Lacuna Coil. They _have_ had big hits already. Just sayin'.


Must be a location thing, then. I live in the United States and barely anyone has heard of them here.  The only other person I know who has heard of the Rasmus is the person who introduced me to them, and the only other people I know who have heard of Lacuna are those who know them from Guitar Hero.


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## glitchedgamer (Aug 3, 2009)

Well, for me, take Metallica for example. They aren't the most "mainstream" around, but they can still be considered mainstream when looking at their more recent stuff. Honestly, I don't like their recent music, and only listen to their thrash stuff from the '80s, but they are still my favorite band. If I liked a band at any point during their career, I won't hate them if they change their sound or become popular to the general public.


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## Tarvos (Aug 3, 2009)

I will like music when I hear it or hate it when I hear it. It's perfectly possible to love one album a band has done and hate the next. 99% of bands have slumps in their creative material. (The other 1% don't have peaks.)


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## goldenquagsire (Aug 3, 2009)

i don't really follow popular culture enough to even understand what is or isn't "mainstream".

like, i was really surprised when i discovered from some German kid that the Kooks are actually a fairly popular, internationally well-known band when all along i'd thought that they just had was some tiny fanbase in the North of England.

did i start to care when i found this out? nope. in fact, i was rather proud that my lovely little band from Brighton was apparently worming its way into the Deutsche _Top 40_. :3


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## otaku-dono (Aug 4, 2009)

Of course I wouldn't, because then mainstream music would actually be good.


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## glitchedgamer (Aug 4, 2009)

otaku-dono said:


> Of course I wouldn't, because then mainstream music would actually be good.


Soooooooo true.


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## Saith (Aug 4, 2009)

Well I wouldn't, because why punish yourself? However, with songs that have meaning, it's slightly different. It's stupid when people listen to darker music 'because it's cool' and pay no attention to what the music means. Basically, I guess, it's that whole thing about hating wannabees.

I hate it when people label me due to what music I listen to and stuff, especially when, as usually happens, it's me who brings that particular band to the schools knowledge, so I prefer it when people haven't heard of what I listen to.


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## KlutzyKaytix33 (Aug 5, 2009)

ultraviolet said:


> I always figured 'mainstream' was just an insult used by people who are trying to be trendy or special snowflakes by only liking lesser-known bands with small followings. And then for some reason they get annoyed when suddenly everyone likes their band and they aren't special any more. Said people don't really care about the band or their music, only how unique they think they are.


THIS. I hate when people are like that.
Almost all of the bands I like are mainstream, and I don't give a crap what people think. :3 
Hence my selection of the third option~


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## Zuu (Aug 5, 2009)

Anyway, I wouldn't *abandon* them, but it's probably more likely that I'd stop listening to them due to a sound change or something.


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## Jolty (Aug 5, 2009)

opaltiger said:


> It is a known fact that mainstream is only bad if it was in the nineties or later. Mainstream sixties, seventies, and eighties bands are fine.


hell to the yeah
lmao


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## Teh Ebil Snorlax (Aug 5, 2009)

The short answer "Who gives a fuck?"

The long answer, I wouldn't abandon them, no, but I'd get really unjustifiably pissed-off with those people who hear one song and suddenly say that that band is their favourite band, without listening to any of their other songs and then accuse me of being a tight-ass when I point out that they haven't listened to anything other than that song.


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## Tarvos (Aug 6, 2009)

otaku-dono said:


> Of course I wouldn't, because then mainstream music would actually be good.


except some of the best bands out there are mainstream

radiohead
nine inch nails
pink floyd
queen
led zeppelin
snow patrol

etc etc


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## Alexi (Aug 14, 2009)

Hey! A Rasmus fan! <3

There's two sides to this for me.

I would love it if Draconian, etc. went mainstream, so then I could hear their songs on the radio and request them. My friends would know who the fuck I'm talking about all the time. Plus more money for the band means maybe they could spare a trip to this insignificant town (or the towns near it).

On the other hand, more popularity means more annoying people wanting to talk to me about it. Unless people are my close friends, I usually don't like disgussing things I like with them unless it's certain things, like video games. And gods forbid I ever see a Kamelot song on Guitar Hero or Rock Band...

(actually RB wouldn't be so bad, I could sing then :3)

So no, mainstream is fine with me. And non-mainstream is cool too.


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## Tarvos (Aug 14, 2009)

Odds are March of Mephisto will end up on it. At some point. That song is amazing.


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## glitchedgamer (Aug 14, 2009)

Wait, I'm gonna change my answer:

Define "became mainstream." Do you mean that the band has changed their sound to be more "radio-friendly," or do you mean they just had some random spike in popularity but have kept their sound? If it's the latter, HELL NO! I like a band because I enjoy their music, not because they are unknown or underground. It just so happens that I just don't enjoy the current mainstream and love the underground stuff. That's just my personal taste. If thrash ever goes mainstream, I'm going mainstream with it. If the band changes their sound, that's another story. If I didn't like the new sound, I wouldn't listen to the new stuff, but still love them for their old stuff.


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## Jolteon (Sep 21, 2009)

I probably wouldn't even notice.


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## Ven (Sep 21, 2009)

I honestly don't care. I don't even have a favourite band. I just listen to whatever sounds good in my ears. Who is with me?


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## M&F (Sep 21, 2009)

I don't even know how popular most of the songs I listen to actually are.


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## Ven (Sep 21, 2009)

Wow, same here.


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## speedblader03 (Sep 22, 2009)

I wouldn't abandon them, but I dislike it when things that I like become mainstream, because then EVERYONE is interested in it, so liking it isn't that different anymore, even though I liked it before it went mainstream.


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## nothing to see here (Sep 22, 2009)

I think everyone would be better off if they stopped caring about what's considered "mainstream" and what isn't.

I seriously want to slap someone with a brick whenever I hear people bash a band that they used to like, but then can't think up any reason for all the hate besides "they suck because they're MAINSTREAM now!!1!1!"

I mean, if the band's music actually changed significantly after the "mainstreaming," that might be a reason for someone to not like it anymore.  But if that's the problem, _just say that_ instead of whining about the "mainstream"-ness.

EDIT: Seeing that "yes" still has zero votes actually makes me slightly more optimistic about the sanity of people who post here.


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## #1 bro (Sep 23, 2009)

El Garbanzo said:


> Seeing that "yes" still has zero votes actually makes me slightly more optimistic about the sanity of people who post here.


Still. I can guarantee there's at least one person here, probably like five, who is a big fan of Early Green Day™.


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## Flora (Sep 23, 2009)

I know for a fact that one of these days my favorite band's gonna become mainstream, so I'd actually be quite happy.  They're amazing~


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## Dewgong (Sep 26, 2009)

a band becoming mainstream doesn't make them any different, just because of that

i've known bands where i like the 'old' them, like when they became (i guess you'd say) mainstream, their music changed to appeal to a bigger audience, not what they really wanted to do. then i quit listening.

but if a band is considered mainstream and i like them, i really think it matters


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## Doctor Jimmy (Sep 27, 2009)

I don't give a fuck. Most, if not all of my music, has gotten mainstream exposure. I love my music. I wouldn't give any of it up simply because the groups have a greater exposure. However, sell-outs are a different story.


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## M&F (Sep 27, 2009)

On the matter of sell-outs, I don't give a shit either. I only stop listening when the music stops being awesome.


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## foreign contaminant (Sep 27, 2009)

(i have posted in this thread already, i know. if i remember correctly, the mainstream i had in mind wasn't in line with the mainstream others had in mind.)

i don't really mind if a band becomes mainstream as long as their creative integrity isn't compromised. i'll even put up with uncool fans.. animal collective is apparently mainstream enough to have frat boys as fans. i'll still listen to the music.


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